China blocks India’s move to ban Masood Azhar at UN

UNITED NATIONS: In a move consistent with its policy of taking actions based on merit and facts, China put on hold an Indian proposal to list Jaish-i-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar in the UN Security Council’s Al-Qaeda Sanctions list.

The 15-member Council had rejected a previous Indian attempt to list Masood Azhar several years ago, as his links with Al-Qaeda were not clear.

UN experts say this was a basic requirement for listing suspected terrorists to the Al-Qaeda Sanctions List, and the Security Council’s rejection of Indian proposal meant that it did not find any merit in Indian assertions.

Since then, it was pointed out, the only new element India brought in its latest proposal was linking Masood Azhar to Pathankot incident in January 2016. While the matter was still under investigation, India chose to take up the case just on the basis of allegations.

“It also indicates India’s predisposition to act irresponsibly while Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team was cooperating with its authorities to bring out the facts,” a diplomatic observer pointed out.

“Knowing fully well that such a move will not be conducive to cooperation between the two countries, India also laid bare its policy of mudslinging at Pakistan rather than developing cooperation with it.”

Diplomatic observers also noted that China, a permanent member of the Security Council, stood firm on principles when the Indian proposal came for decision in the Security Council.

“Its policy of judging each proposal on merit and verifying the facts of case meant that the Indian proposal needed to be looked at in more detail,” one observer said. “China believes that counter-terrorism measures must be fair and based on facts in order to be effective. Mere allegations made for political gains undermine the global effort against terrorism rather than strengthening it. It is, therefore, up to India to support its assertions with facts or risk losing credibility in the United Nations.” APP